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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not tell dh about the 'check engine' light and ignore it as car is working fine?

185 replies

brt100 · 30/05/2014 19:20

The check engine light is now coming on a couple of times a week. We really can't afford to do anything to fix it and it is functional at the moment, it just Judders a bit when I go too slow in 5th.

Dh will get stressed and try to fix it himself. Would rather not have that as its not his forte.

OP posts:
Chippednailvarnish · 30/05/2014 21:55

So if you can't work without a car why on earth aren't you going to see if you can get it checked?!?

This thread is completely pointless.

Original poster
brt100 · 30/05/2014 21:58

You are totally missing the point of the thread!

It was about not telling dh about it...

OP posts:
Taz1212 · 30/05/2014 21:58

I would get it checked. I get very paranoid when warning signs come on in my car and am convinced it means that the car will blow up while I'm driving it. Grin

Having said that, I have an intermittent judder in my car and an intermittent air bag warning signal. DH's car has an intermittent "engine malfunction" warning that comes on rather alarmingly every once in a while. Both cars have been checked and the garage can't find anything wrong (we've never been charged for inspections) and I've learned to live with the "faults". Grin

ohdearitshappeningtome · 30/05/2014 21:59

Well u will only reap what you sow if potentially your car is off the road and therefore you won't be able to work!

Potentially may cost you pennies to sort in the meantime but potentially a fortune in the long run!

Waste of people time this thread because your going to do what u want anyway and put peoples and your own life at risk!

Idiot

ReadyToBreak · 30/05/2014 21:59

No idea why your engine light is coming on but it is normal for a car to judder if you are in too high a gear for the speed you are doing.

It's not good for the engine to be doing that all the time.

Taz1212 · 30/05/2014 22:00

Oh, and about DH. I don't tell mine when I'm getting the car looked at. I just book it in and tell him afterwards!

PourquoiTuGachesTaVie · 30/05/2014 22:00

Mechanic dh said it needs to be checked. From the little information you've given it could be something or nothing but if it is something then continuing to drive it could just make it worse and turn a small job into a big (expensive) one.

craftynclothy · 30/05/2014 22:02

I'd get it checked, even though I'm still bitter about ours coming on a couple of months ago. Almost £100 to go on the diagnostic computer and the result...less than £15 for a new circuit (faulty connection was causing the light to come on.

AnyFucker · 30/05/2014 22:06

OP, like I said, I sympathise

But your latest post reinforces even further that you cannot afford to run a car. It's difficult, I know, but if your car is faulty you are running a risk to yourself (and your kids if you transport them too) and other road users (and their kids) if you don't sort a fault

You are being irresponsible, even if you are skint. Your need to get to work does nopt trump other road user's safety

PlinkyPlonker · 30/05/2014 22:07

Do you have breakdown cover? Get the AA / RAC man to come out and have a look. They have diagnostic machines that might pick up the fault code and give you some more info. You need the light to be on when they get there tho. So if light is on when you get home, turn engine off and leave off. If the light goes back off then the fault code might not be logged.

They will come out if you say you have warning light + loss of power (the judder). They might not attend if you say it's just the warning light on.

MrsGoslingWannabe · 30/05/2014 22:09

I ignored mine for a couple of months and eventually got it checked. There was a split in the air pipe or something meaning that the car was doing higher revs and using more fuel. I was considering changing cars cos I was fed up with the fuel costs, silly me! Next time I'll get it looked at straightaway.

iamthecakefairy · 30/05/2014 22:09

You are being irresponsible, even if you are skint. Your need to get to work does not trump other road user's safety

^ this

bigdog888 · 30/05/2014 22:13

As it's intermittent the chances are it's nothing major but should still be investigated. Get your DH to read the error codes as you say be has the cable - this is really easy. Once you have the codes just google them, they're universal OBD 2 codes generally. Alternatively read the codes and then have a friendly chat to a local marque specialist and see what they say. A car will not fail it's MOT just for having the engine management light illuminated although the underlying reason may cause a fail such as an emissions problem.

SquirrelledAway · 30/05/2014 22:14

Could be fuel injectors / fuel pump. You should get it checked - as above, if you have AA or RAC then they can run the diagnostics and give you the code, then Google is your friend.

Original poster
brt100 · 30/05/2014 22:16

Mrs the issue I have is that the car is running perfectly normal, no temperature and the fule consumption is really good (54 on a petrol). If the temperature was getting hot or making funny noises I would take it in asap.

I just think now cars are all computerised then minor problems that need not fixing come up.

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 30/05/2014 22:21

You said already the car isn't running "perfectly"

You said it was "juddering"

Which is it ?

Ilovefluffysheep · 30/05/2014 22:21

Any warning lights are now an mot failure as well. I didn't know this until right before my mot when luckily I mentioned it to my sergeant (I'm not a traffic officer as you probably can guess!). Had to get mine fixed before mot.

Original poster
brt100 · 30/05/2014 22:24

Well yes it was juddering, but that was in a high gear going up a hill - I gather that is normal?

The light goes out after the engine is started, would be fine for a mot right?

OP posts:
bigdog888 · 30/05/2014 22:25

Any warning lights are now an mot failure as well. I didn't know this until right before my mot when luckily I mentioned it to my sergeant (I'm not a traffic officer as you probably can guess!). Had to get mine fixed before mot

Simply not true. There are a larger number of warning lights that are now MOT fails. The engine management light is not one of them.

mercibucket · 30/05/2014 22:28

Its not all warning lights that get a fail on mot

Mine goes off after engine is warmed up - so fine for mot as car has been driven there. But i think it would be fine anyway as is general engine light

SquirrelledAway · 30/05/2014 22:32

Not sure about Fiats, but usually all lights come on as you start up to check the systems and then go off again.

If the check engine light comes on at any other time whilst driving and then goes off again the computer system will have recorded a fault code.

If the car is juddering whilst going uphill in 5th gear, you need to change down - 5th is your cruising gear, it drops the revs and improves fuel efficiency.

CMP69 · 30/05/2014 22:35

I did that once and the head gasket blew Sad . ££££ later we were back on the roas

TheFairyCaravan · 30/05/2014 22:37

You need to get it checked. The light is coming on to register a fault in the ECU, it needs to be plugged in to a computer to read it.

I've just Googled "Fiat Engine Warning Light" people are saying they ignored it and ended up with a major fault and big bill!

bigdog888 · 30/05/2014 22:40

Another thought - does this only occur once it has been juddering in 5th gear? I'm thinking along the lines of some of the other posters. Labouring the engine could actually be the cause of the light illuminating.

HeartShapeStone · 30/05/2014 22:43

Our check engine light (skoda) has been coming on and off randomly for about 3 1/2 years now, there was also a stage when the skidding light and various other lights joined in, in a totally random fashion.

The garage reset everything a couple of times, replaced a sensor and finally gave up saying we had a problem with our engine light, not with our engine. We just live with it now and probably will for the rest of the car's lifetime.

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